Ever do something in the brewery that you immediately know is a bad idea, but that split second realization isn’t fast enough? Here’s mine from yesterday –
Skipped chilling since it was starter wort and was going into quart jars for sterilizing. But, when you spill just a tad and want to clean up a bit, it’s a bad idea to use cold water to do so. Just sayin…
Carboy down!!
Ouch. Glad it wasn’t worse. I’ve had some bad experiences with hot glass and cold water.
At least it was in the sink, better than all over the floor.
Now, get thee a better bottle as a replacement
True! Putting it in the sink was the only speck of intelligence displayed in the 15 seconds prior to hosing down the carboy…
Thought about the better bottles - how are they with heat? I’ve been looking at getting a couple of these guys too –
Pricey, but probably worth it for where my efforts are headed.
Chalk it up as a valuable learning lesson. Glad you didn’t get hurt. I’ve heard quite a few horror stories concerning carboy mishaps. There’s a lot of potential for disaster with regards to handling carboys. I am always very cautious.
Super dangerous idea to add boiling - or even hot - liquid to carboy. Ever! The last thing you want to happen is a carboy to shatter in your hands. There have been many people over the years who have had serious laceration from breaking carboys. Serious loss of blood! It’s probably a good idea to start reminding people of the dangers of glass carboys again.
+1
I’ve been using Better Bottles for years. They cost much less than any trip to an emergency room.
THIS^^^^…NEVER put hot liquid in a carboy or use hot water to clean it. several of mine even have a warning stamped on the bottom.
I have made the mistake of putting hot water into a glass carboy to dissolve some bentonite. The next morning I found grape juice running across my kitchen floor. The carboy had cracked along the bottom allowing the juice to leak out. Fortunately, I was able to rescue the juice without the carboy breaking completely. I do not put hot water in glass carboys anymore.
Agreed! Prior to moving to stainless conicals, I was using plastic conicals for this very reason. Had an unfortunate meeting between the bottom of a carboy and a concrete floor a few years back, which resulted in a good gash on the bottom of my foot and the loss of a Corsendonk clone. Two lessons learned that day:
Never step foot in your brewing space with sandals, even if it’s just to check the temperature of a fermenting batch. You’ll likely end up messing around with something else, and it’s best to be protected.
Increase your level of caution around anything glass in the brewing space – even seemingly harmless pint glasses can cause some serious problems.